Anyone who loves Major League Baseball and has been watching it for a while knows of and has an opinion of George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees. He passed away yesterday. How he ran his ball club was of little concern to me. I didn't care how many managers he fired, I didn't care if he ranted to the media about his under-performing players. As a long-time Yankee hater, I considered it screwball comedy. My only issue with him was how he brought all of his and his market's financial advantages to bear into the competitive arena. He "unleveled" the playing field. It's no secret how he did it. In most years, the Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball. They drive the market. That said, I've softened on him over the years. Once free agency came into existence, Steinbrenner magnified the big market / small market dilemma that MLB has but it was there all along. He didn't create the problem. He just made it worse and baseball was powerless to stop him. I read someone somewhere yesterday who went on and on about how Steinbrenner's free spending revolutionized the game but I forget whether he was praising or detracting. He used his money to get what he wanted. That one is fairly tried and true. Nothing revolutionary about it. R.I.P., George.
Congratulations to the National League All Stars on their 3-1 win last night over the American League All Stars. About damned time.
If you're really concerned or if someone asks, the chicken came first.
5 song iTune shuffle from the CrabAppleLane Five Star playlist:
- Time Stand Still - Rush - Chronicles [Disc 2]
- One More Tomorrow - Henry Gross - One More Tomorrow The Best Of Henry Gross
- Further On (Up The Road) - Bruce Springsteen - The Rising
- I Hear Them All - Old Crow Medicine Show - Big Iron World
- Layla - Eric Clapton - Time Pieces - The Best Of Eric Clapton
Quote of the Day
Don't talk to me about aesthetics or tradition. Talk to me about what sells and what's good right now. And what the American people like is to think the underdog still has a chance.
George Steinbrenner, 1930-2010
Blog of the day is here.
Quote from said blog: "He was a force of nature, a completely unique individual. He changed how baseball goes about its business."
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You summed it up pretty well on Steinbrenner. I'll just leave my thoughts at that.
Like most people not named Wooden, he was a mixed bag. Baseball is headed for trouble mainly because they don't have the ability to fix the problem that Steinbrenner exploited.